My Birthday in Madison

I had a fun day on my birthday this year.  It was on a Saturday, and Jim's mom just happened to be in Wisconsin that day.  She and Roger were in Madison for a horse show.  She offered to take the girls for the day if we were willing to drive up to Madison.  We had never been there before so we thought it sounded like a fun adventure.  The drive was about 2 hours; not that bad.  We dropped the girls off with Grammy Tammy then headed out to a fun place for lunch.

We had lunch at Quivey's Grove in a southern suburb of Madison. 

 They actually have two different restaurants there.  The Stone House and the Stable Grill.  We ate at the Stable Grill.  It's in an old barn.  It was very quaint and rustic.

 Happy to be enjoying a kid-free meal!

 My meal.  I chose this restaurant because it was one of very few in the area who were open for lunch and served actual entrees instead of just burgers and sandwiches for lunch.  I ordered the Cross Plains Chicken: crispy fried boneless chicken breast with honey mustard sauce, and new potatoes smashed with cream, garlic butter, and herbs.  Mmm. It was very good.

 Jim's meal.  Pork Hanerville: Grilled pork shank lollipops glazed with tangy barbecue sauce and the same potatoes I had.  He loved his meal too.

 This was my dessert.  Not really what I was expecting.  It was called Turtle Pie.  "Topped with chocolate Bavarian cream."  More like a gallon of Bavarian cream with a tiny sliver of caramel and pecans on the bottom!  All I could think was "dairy bomb!"  I dug the caramel and pecans from the bottom and ate that, leaving most of the Bavarian cream on the plate.  Jim got a chocolate bread pudding and loved it.  

 I'm glad I did my research online before going to Madison, because we never would have known this place was a restaurant from just driving by.  It really looks like a farm.

 This was our restaurant.  To the left is the house where the other, fancier, restaurant is.

 You know I love the historical markers.

 After lunch we decided to drive around and explore Madison a little bit.  It sits on a lake.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but really quite chilly for the season.

 The capitol building.

 Despite the chill, there were lots of people out and about that day.  Madison is packed with bicyclists.

 Jim had to stop and see what these birds were.  At first he thought they were loons, but upon closer inspection, decided they weren't.  

 Never did figure it out.  After driving around Madison a while, and driving the wrong way down a one-way street (oops!), we found a couple of Goodwills and did some shopping.

 Before we knew it, it was time to get the girls from Grammy Tammy.  They had lots of fun at the horse show.  They got their faces painted (in case you can't tell from the picture).

 Eva the Pink Tiger.

 Lena the Ferocious Orange Tiger.

Here's a short video of Eva singing me her very own Happy Birthday song.

Thanks, Grammy Tammy, for making my birthday special!